Committee for Free Trade Unionism

HAVANA —(Associated Press)  Cuba uses repressive laws, a well-oiled state security apparatus and complicit courts to stifle political dissent as it harasses, spies on and imprisons those who openly oppose its communist system, Amnesty International said in a report released July 14. 2010.

The 35-page analysis said restrictions on expressing views deviating from the official line are “systematic and entrenched,” despite the government’s taking “some limited steps to address long-standing suppression of freedom of expression.”

Cuba’s government did not respond to a request for comment. It routinely dismisses international human rights groups as tools of the United States.

Amnesty found that things have not improved since February 2008, when Cuba signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political [...]
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The Committee for Free Trade Unionism (CFTU) welcomes the efforts of Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino to obtain the release of at least some of the political dissidents the Castro regime has imprisoned for many years.

According to the government of Spain, less than a dozen formerly imprisoned Cuban dissidents and their families arrived Tuesday, 13 July, in that European country.

Among those known to have been released: Lester Gonzalez, Omar Ruiz, Antonio Villarreal, Julio Cesar Galvez, Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, Pablo Pacheco, Normando Hernandez and Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso. They arrived in Spain on two flights that left Havana Monday night, along with family members who brought the group to around 35 people.  We have a included a photo of Dr. Paneque on the jump page. The photo was  taken shortly after his arrival in Spain.  He is suffering from a malabsorption syndrome he acquired while in a Cuban prison.

Former prisoner Hernandez, in an interview with the BBC, said Havana’s motives should not be misunderstood. “Cuba is not opening up to democracy,” he declared.

“I personally think it is a trick by the Cuban government,” Hernandez said. “The economic needs on the island are [...]
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HAVANA — Cuba uses repressive laws, a well-oiled state security apparatus and complicit courts to stifle political dissent as it harasses, spies on and imprisons those who openly oppose its communist system, Amnesty International said in a report released on June 30.

A news story from The Associated Press said the 35-page analysis from Amnesty International (AI) reported that restrictions on expressing views deviating from the official line are “systematic and entrenched,” despite the government’s taking “some limited steps to address long-standing suppression of freedom of expression.”

Cuba’s government did not respond to a request for comment. It routinely dismisses international human rights groups as tools of the United States.

Amnesty International, the AP reported, found that things have not improved since February 2008, when Cuba signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and it blasted official prohibitions on individual liberties in the name of national security and in response to Washington’s 48-year trade sanctions.

“No matter how detrimental its impact, the U.S. embargo is a lame excuse for violating the rights of citizens, as it can in no way diminish the obligation on the Cuban government to protect, respect [...]
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There’s been no letup in Cuba’s harsh treatment and imprisonment of its citizens who want more political freedom and free trade unions that actually protect the rights of workers.

That’s the conclusion reached by participants in a forum on “Freedom of Association in Cuba,” sponsored in June in Geneva by the Committee for Free Trade Unionism (CFTU) and the Unitary Council of Cuban Workers (CUTC).  The forum was held concurrently with the 99th annual conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

During the forum, panelists highlighted the plight of the independent labor movement in Cuba, the Cuban government’s continuing violations of human rights, its harassment of independent labor activists, and the inhumane living conditions of Cuba’s political prisoners.

As an example, Aurelio Bachiller, a former political prisoner and now general secretary in exile of the National Independent Workers’ Confederation of Cuba (CONIC), explained to forum participants how his son MacDiel Bachiller was arrested and imprisoned by the Cuban government. The senior Bachiller was arrested in 1993 after he attempted to create an independent labor union of agricultural workers. He spent three years in a Cuban prison and in 2008 was able to emigrate [...]
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In its annual survey of violations of trade union rights, the International Trade Union Confederation issued the following report about Cuba:

Background: Cuba saw a bad start to the year in the aftermath of the three hurricanes that struck the island in 2008, leaving damages estimated at 10 billion dollars. The government reduced subsidized food quotas in 2009, cut energy consumption and stopped its debt repayments. No change was seen, however, on the political and rights front. According to the majority of the analysts consulted, no substantial change was seen on the political scene, aside from the replacement of secondary figures such as Carlos Lage, the former vice president. The same applies to the civil and democratic rights situation.

Anti-union legislation: The regime continues to prohibit independent trade unions and the right to strike is simply not regulated by the legislation in Cuba. According to the government, the need to call strikes does not apply, as the official trade union organizations enjoy the guarantee that their demands will be heard by the authorities.

Right to form and register organizations declared illegal: A considerable number of trade union organizations have been declared illegal [...]
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We’ve posted updates and photos of the 10 independent trade unionists still being held in Cuban prisons, some since their arrests in 2003.

Just click on our Archives button at the top of this page for their names, photos and more. Trade unionists and others of good will all over the world are pressuring Cuba to release these men.

Havana  (AP) -  Cuba is calling this year’s sugar harvest “horrible” and says it’s the least productive since 1905.

The scathing assessment comes two days after Raul Castro fired Sugar Minister Luis Manuel Avila.

Granma says the sugar harvest fell 850,000 tons short of expectations, though it does not specify that goal. It says 105 years have passed since “such a poor sugar campaign.” Once a world leader in sugar, Cuba has slashed production in recent years. Today, it has 750,000 hectares (1.9 million acres) and 61 mills dedicated to sugar.

Granma says only 10 mills met production goals. It blames officials for “lack of control” and for lacking “objectivity” in planning.

Havana  (AP) — An independent Cuban journalist with ties to the Ladies in White dissident group has been freed as she appeals a 20-month sentence for allegedly mistreating her adult daughter.

Dania García, who uses U.S. websites to report on everyday Cuban life in defiance of government controls on all media, was released, according to her blog and the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders.

Felipe Sanchez, head of the independent, Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, had reported that Mrs. Garcia was arrested April 20 and sentenced three days later after her daughter filed a complaint — apparently angry at her mother’s criticism of the Castro government. Sanchez had reported previously that he suspected, but could not prove, that Garcia was targeted for being a supporter of the “Damas en Blanco. The official charge against Garcia was “abuse of authority” for throwing her 23-year-old daughter out of her home.

Garcia writes for dissident and opposition websites including Primavera Digital and CubaNet. She also runs a blog, daniavirgengarcia.blogspot.com. The site is blocked in Cuba.

from Cuba Facts*

There is only one labor union confederation in Cuba. It is the Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC), organized and controlled by the Cuban government. All workers must be CTC members (even against their will), and they must pay contributions to the CTC.

The CTC, however, is a union in name only. In reality, it is a tool of the government. Here’s why:

“Union” elections are held periodically, but only candidates selected and approved by the Communist Party can run for office. Neither labor collective bargaining nor individual bargaining exists in Cuba. Workers cannot change one employer for another without permission from the government.

The overwhelming majority of enterprises, business, commercial, agricultural and industrial, are property of the Cuban government and the majority of Cubans work for the State. All salaries are arbitrarily set by the State.

Workers are hired, disciplined and dismissed by the government.

Foreign companies operating businesses in Cuba must secure their work force from the Cuban government. They cannot on their own contract nor dismiss workers without the express approval of the government.

Foreign companies pay the Cuban government in strong foreign currency (for example, Canadian dollars, Euros). [...]
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Though Cubans have been exposed to intense governmental repression and pressure the last few weeks, nearly 30% of the electorate openly defied the Castro regime and its policies and did not vote in the recent elections for renewal of the various municipal assemblies.

According to Rubén Pérez Rodríguez, vice president of the National Electoral Commission, less than 71% of the 8.4 million Cuban voters showed up at the polls. Even when Pérez declared that the voting had been “quite massive,” the fact is that, in comparison with the elections held in 2006, when 90.32% of the total number of Cubans called to the polls actually voted, this time there was notable absenteeism.

In Cuba, it is almost a sacrilege not to vote in the elections the government regularly conducts; and not voting may place the common citizen on the “black list” of those disaffected with the regime, with all the attendant consequences that such action may bring them.

That’s why it is the more remarkable that, given the current conditions, so many Cubans chose not to vote, knowing full well that such absenteeism would bring reprisals.